NetEase Launches Public Offering in Hong Kong, Net Proceeds To Be Used for Global Opportunities

According to The Latest IPO, Chinese internet technology giant NetEase officially announced the launch of its secondary Hong Kong public offering on the evening of June 1, Beijing time. Netease will be listed on the main board of the Hong Kong stock exchange under the ticker “9999”. A total of 171 million common shares will be issued.

The international sale price is expected to be fixed on June 5, Hong Kong time, and the Hong Kong sale price will be at the lower end of the final international sale price and the maximum sale price (HK$126 per share sold). The shares will be traded in units of 100 shares each.

In addition, investors participating in the offering will only be able to subscribe for common shares, not American depositary shares. Each ADS on the NASDAQ market is equivalent to 25 ordinary shares. Upon completion of the secondary listing in Hong Kong, the Hong Kong listed shares will be fully interchangeable with the ADS listed on NASDAQ.

The offering consists of a public offering of 5,150,000 new shares in Hong Kong and an international offering of 166,330,000 new shares, representing 3.0% and 97.0% of the total number of shares offered, respectively.

Depending on the level of oversubscription in the Hong Kong public offering and the mechanism for refunding stated in the prospectus published in Hong Kong, the total number of shares available for subscription in the Hong Kong public offering may be adjusted to a maximum of 20,580,000 new shares, accounting for approximately 12.0% of the total initial offering shares. In addition, NetEase is expected to grant international underwriters an over-allotment of shares that will require the company to issue a maximum of 25,722,000 additional shares under the international offering, up to 15.0% of the total initial offering.

NetEase said it intended to use the net proceeds from the offering for upscaling global strategies, driving the ongoing pursuit of innovation and general corporate purposes.